Federal Police personnel demonstrate along Paulista Avenue, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Feb. 24, 2014 demanding the reform of the public security and protesting a lack of structure guaranteeing World Cup security [AFP]

Police say just 30 percent of officers will provide a minimum service during their colleagues’ mini-strike in a country beset by protests in recent months against corruption and the cost of hosting the Cup.

“Brazil’s security system needs reforming,” said Borges.

“We don’t have sufficient resources to guarantee the security of Brazilians, still less of foreign visitors,” he complained.

Brazil expects to welcome around 600,000 foreign visitors for the month-long soccer extravaganza.

According to Borges, despite being a continent-sized country Brazil only has 10,000 federal police nationwide to oversee border and airport security, the safety of public buildings and also issue passports.

They are also responsible for security of the head of state, President Dilma Rousseff, and her government’s ministers.

Each of Brazil’s 27 federal states have federal, military and civil police.

A decade ago, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva indicated he would create a unitary public security structure via a constitutional amendment but the plan has fallen into abeyance.